A hopper is a material handling device that transfers flowable materials from a source, such as a conveyor, to a container or further conveyor. Hoppers generally include converging sidewalls that direct material from a large inlet to a smaller outlet. The shape of the sidewalls and characteristics of the flowable material dictate the flow through the hopper. Problematic conditions that impede the free flow of material (e.g., such as a “rathole” (an empty vertical hole from the top of the material to the outlet with side material NOT flowing at all) or a “bridge” (where the material simple sets up a self-supporting arch across the hopper and no material flows thereafter)) may occur if the hopper sidewalls are not particularly configured for transferring a selected flowable material.
One attempt to provide a material handling hopper that helps to avoid these conditions with some flowable materials is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,071,297 (“the '297 Patent”). The '297 Patent discloses a multi-part hopper with converging sidewalls that includes a large inlet component that is connected to a smaller, separate outlet component. The inlet component includes a vertical wall inlet section and an angled wall transfer section attached to the outlet component. The outlet component includes sidewalls shaped to match a section of a hyperbola. The inlet section receives flowable material which the transfer section directs to the outlet component. The outlet component directs the flowable material out of the hopper.
While the hyperbolic shape of the outlet component of the '297 Patent may help to avoid some problematic conditions, it may be less than ideal. For example, because the outlet component is configured to be used in conjunction with a large inlet component, the hopper of the '297 Patent takes up a large amount of space. Further, the outlet component itself has a relatively low volume and must be specifically shaped to fit to the transfer section of the inlet component. Moreover, the multi-part configuration of the hopper complicates the manufacturing and assembly process.
The present disclosure is directed to overcoming one or more problems of the prior art.